Olly Alexander: ‘I struggle to describe how horrified I feel about the damage Piers Morgan is doing to LGBTQ people’

The Years & Years frontman has made a documentary for the BBC called 'Growing Up Gay'

Olly Alexander has spoken out the “damage” people like Piers Morgan are doing when they speak disparagingly about the LGBTQ community.

The Years & Years frontman has made a documentary for the BBC called Growing Up Gay, which sees him explore why the queer community is more vulnerable to mental health issues and candidly address his own depression.

Speaking to NME, Alexander said: “I struggle to describe how horrified I feel about people like Piers Morgan and the damage they’re doing. They hide behind ‘It’s free speech, I can say what I like’. No, we have a responsibility to try to help people and encourage better forms of discussion.

The documentary is part of the Gay Britannia series, which was produced to mark the 50th anniversary of homosexuality being partially decriminalised in England and Wales. Alexander said that, although legally “we can feel good about how far we’ve come”, there’s still work to be done – especially in protecting trans people.

“For trans people, it’s fallen short,” he said. “They’re not protected in many places, like the workplace, and that’s something we should all fight for. But it’s also about changing people’s attitudes, which is a tougher battle.”

Growing Up Gay is available to watch now on the BBC iPlayer. You can read the full interview with Olly Alexander here.

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